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Leadership interview with Paula Carrasco-Kendell, Kendellhurst Academy
- Name
Paula Carrasco-Kendell - Title
Director
Paula Carrasco-Kendell, Director of Kendellhurst Academy, shared her perspective on the school’s nurturing philosophy, strong academics, individualized learning, close-knit community, and diverse extracurricular opportunities. She reflected on how the school’s flexible approach allows students to learn at an appropriate level, pursue reach-ahead credits, and develop through academics, athletics, and interest-based activities within a welcoming and multicultural environment.
Highlights from the interview
We started the school with the mission of nurturing the mind and spirit, and we started as a preschool and grew solely from that. So a lot of our foundation, policies, and procedures are based on nurturing and care, and a strong academic focus came along after that.
They often say that it takes a village to raise a child, and that is what Kendallhurst Academy is. We are a community of families, and our whole goal is to raise a child as a community and to know that a well-rounded school experience is probably the best experience for a child and creates a warm and nurturing environment where they can then flourish.
In every classroom, we have different pods. We have emergent, intermediate, and advanced pods. And those pods of learners are fluid. So their child is always in a situation where they can advance, or if they're finding they're challenged in certain subjects, they might go into a different pod in order to achieve that balance and move forward.
We found that our students were pretty much a year ahead, and we weren't taking advantage of that as they graduated from school with us. So what we did was integrate that into our Grade 8 program, where our students are doing Grade 9 credits in math and English literature. Once they go to high school, they have these two credits under their belt.
We'd like to actually add more reach-ahead credits to our program. That way, our students could possibly even have a full repertoire of credits before they get to high school.
Our school is very multicultural and diverse, and our teacher population reflects that diversity. Our school is very welcoming and close-knit because we are very boutique and small.
When new students come, it's also very welcoming because we're excited to have a new family join the school.
One of the things that's really important to us is that, as a small school, we still get to compete in different sports because we belong to the private school athletic association. And last year, I will brag a little bit that we won the basketball championship for the U12. So even being a small school, we're able to compete and to do really well.
We have a lot of wonderful after-school clubs that are based on our students' interests.
